佛祖統紀 9.27

9.27

Chan Master Zhizao was of the Zhang clan from Linhai. His father Huai served the Chen as an Adjutant of the Central Troops. When he was seventeen, both his parents passed away. After the mourning period, he fell ill, and long medical treatment proved ineffective. Thereupon, struggling against his sickness, he went out into the courtyard, lay down facing the moon, and single-mindedly concentrated on Candraprabha Bodhisattva. He focused his thought for ten days. In the night, he dreamed of someone applying their mouth to his body and inhaling; after three nights like this, his illness was cured. Consequently, he went to Anjing Monastery to leave home. Hearing that Zhiyi was an excellent guide for the world, he immediately went to request instruction and practiced the Lotus Samādhi. In the first watch of the night on the fourteenth day, having finished his confession, he went to his seat intending to sit down, when he saw a nine-headed dragon rise from the ground into empty space. Zhiyi explained, 'This signifies that sentient beings of the nine destinies, upon hearing the Lotus Sūtra, are about to break through the ground of ignorance and enter the emptiness of Dharma-nature.' He once went to Baolin Monastery to perform repentance. During the first watch of the night, someone came and shook the door leaf. The Master asked who it was, and the reply was, 'I am just watching the lamp.' Chan Master Youcheng heard this and said, 'This hall has evil ghosts; this sound is a ghost.' He then informed the Prince of Yongyang, who dispatched ten men bearing weapons to guard him. The Master thanked him and dismissed them, saying, 'Life depends only on karma.' That night, the ghost entered the hall, pounding on the walls and striking the pillars, all around from east to west. The Master walked the Way, practiced Chan, and chanted calmly without fear. For three weeks, matters were constantly like this. As the practice was nearing completion, he saw a youth dressed in blue praising him, 'Excellent!' Having spoken, he disappeared. Later, traveling to Kuaiji, his route took him through Shan County to beg for food. The host mistakenly served him poisonous mushrooms. After eating, he went forward on his journey. All the members of the host's family who ate them suffered vomiting, diarrhea, and collapse. A neighbor pursued the Master for ten li to tell him. The Master smiled and said, 'Fortunately, this poor monk is unaffected.' In the first year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang went on an imperial tour to Yangzhou. The Master, upon imperial decree, went from Guoqing to the traveling palace. He was granted an audience in the inner palace, where he was offered a seat and consoled. The Imperial Receptionist Lu Zhengfang was sent to escort him back to the mountain. A vegetarian feast for a thousand monks was held for Zhiyi, and one hundred people were ordained. The Master had audiences with the court eight times in total, and the sovereign always treated him with extraordinary courtesy. In the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang dynasty, he passed away sitting upright without illness, at the age of eighty-three.